Friday, August 31, 2012

Face Off s3e2 • Pirate Treasure • 28 August 2012Last week on Face Off we met the 12 contestants for season three. Eric won the Foundation Challenge, and Rod won the Spotlight Challenge. Joe was disqualified for walking off the set. We assume that the weight of mistreating his teammate Tommy had finally gotten to him. Don't worry, Joe, we still hate Ven Buddhu (PR10) more than you.

Rod won for his original concept, benefiting greatly from Roy's help on the exoskeleton.

Joe was infected by PR10's Andrea & Kooan.

Lisa Stansfield, er, Joe, we hardly knew ye.

Oh, wait a minute, you mistreated Tommy right & left.

We know enough to let you go.

Good luck in the real world with that skill set.

Morning! L.A! Contestants' house! Rod is explaining how he worked so hard, he injured his left hand. Aaah, you have another one, don't worry.

Laura finds a 'new box' on the table. Sadly, all I can see is ...

The makeup artists pick keys from the mini-treasure chest, and head off to San Diego. They meet up with McKenzie Westmore in front of the H.M.S. Surprise.

They get a particular inspiration, as each key opens a different chest on board, and they are matched up as follows:

Contestant • Inspiration

Nicole • Ship In A Bottle

Jason • Jewels

Rod • Seahorses

Laura • Shells

CC • Barnacles

Derek • Netting

Alana • Crabs

Tommy • Kelp

Roy • Dagger

Eric • Spyglass

Sarah • Sea Urchins

But, wait, there's more! For the first time in Project Runway Face Off History!, There's a $5,000 cash prize that will be awarded to the winner of this Spotlight Challenge. (Is that why there isn't a Foundation Challenge — they ran out of money for it?)

Didn't it just look like gold foil covered chocolate 'coins' to you?

The contestants sketch and plan for a while on the H.M.S. Surprise. Hey, Keira Knightly could have been right there once, eh? Or, at least Geena Davis.

CC is still in the planning mode hours into the challenge. Ce n'est pas bon!

Rod has a crises with his mold, but it comes out fine.

Well, fine enough.

Alana has the crisis of crises, though.

It provides for great entertainment, but it can't be good for her psyche, right?She also pulls through. Perseverance works.

Tommy has a hair moment, and by this time I'm calling shenanigans. In a few minutes all well be will for him, too. Hedda Lettuce never recalls the wig.

Is it just me, or does Glenn always look like he needs a strong scrub-down?

The 11 contestants present their looks. Has CC always been the shortest one?

Rod • Seahorses

Terrific look. How innovative they are required to be, I'm not sure. It looks sufficient for the challenge. Safe.

Eric • Spyglass

Not much thought involved here. The spyglass looks cheap and amateur, and yet it is the focal point. What a let down from our Florida guy! #9 of 11.

Roy • Dagger

Well thought out, sharp work. It's interesting all over. Only good enough for #3 of 11.

Tommy • Kelp

The kelp is utilized in the clothing more than in the face, but at least it is easy to grasp what the inspiration is. Safe.

Nicole's masthead wasn't working as she had hoped it would.

Nicole • Ship In A Bottle

There was a lot of effort put into this look. Somehow she managed to just be safe.

CC • Barnacles

The barnacles didn't 'read' as barnacles, plus they were too uniformly applied. The judges complained that she didn't put enough thought and effort into it. They were right. Worthy of the bottom. #11 of 11 and eliminated.

Derek • Netting

A middle of the road effort. Okay, I take it back, nice netting effect on the forehead. Safe

Sarah • Sea Urchin

Inspired by the cracked concrete outside, Sarah incorporated them into the look, imagining them to be where the sea urchins were growing out from the inside. #1 of 11, our winner!

Jason • Jewels

There was a lot of useless work put into the model's appearance, without addressing the inspiration. Holding a bunch of jewels in one's hand isn't going to cut it, Jason. You're SO lucky you're still in! #10 of 11.

Alana • Crabs

All that stress for nothing, huh? Alana's crab-inspired look placed in the middle. Safe.

Laura • Shells

Laura's shell inspired look was strong, detailed, and yet it only placed second? #2 of 11.

The judges couldn't see the craftsmanship in CC's output.They couldn't find any believable barnacles either. They don't really have synchronized formations in life like that.

Every time the Sea Urchin's contacts were on screen, all I could see was Yara Sofia!

Echa Pelante!

Congratulations to Sarah for her hit out of the park. I would have only put this as #2 behind Laura's Shell look, but each was imaginative and had effort put into the entire look.

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

PRs10e7 • Minor Spoiler • 28 August 2012

I was just reading over on Blogging Project Runway about the next episode of PR.

Did you know that Lord & Taylor has put together a capsule collection featuring one designer from each season, and that (I ASSUME) the 'prize' for PRs10e7 will be to be included along with the other 9 people.

Here are the looks already included in the collection:

Jay McCarroll • s1n1

Nick Verreos • s2n5

Uli Herzner • s3n2

Chris March • s4n4

Korto Momolu • s5n2

Gordana Gehlhausen • s6n4

Seth Aaron Henderson • s7n1

Mondo Guerra • s8n2

Bert Keeter • s9n6

Some initial thoughts:

I finally have memorized Gordana's last name, Gehlhausen. I also finally remember Marion Lee's last name (Lee) (s4n14.) For whatever reason, I could never spell Gordana's last name, or remember Marion's last name.

Okay, some REAL initial thoughts:

Will the prize be that the winner gets to THEN design something to fit in with the other 9, or, will the prize be that the winning output of the episode goes into production? I can think of a few s10 designers who could fit right in with the above, if they had some sleep, and some time to come up with something. However, we don't KNOW that that will be how it goes. So, assuming that the winning look of this particular challenge actually goes into production ''as is'' or reasonably close to that .... I'd want Christopher, then Melissa, then Dmitry to win. I'm going by whom I anticipate actually winning the next challenge, without even knowing if ''fitting in with the prior 9 looks'' is part of the challenge. Hmmm ...

Saturday, August 25, 2012

PRs10e6 • Fix My Friend • 23 August 2012

Please tell me Bob Barker isn't the guest host.

Last week 11 designers were divided into two teams to design capsule collections for Marie Claire at Work. The fair Melissa won with a huge collar serving as a dress. Suddenly, all I can think of is Mitchell's beautiful collar (& nothing else) from PR s6e1, and, forgive me, Jeffrey's neck. Raul & Gunnar were in the bottom two, with Raul getting the double kiss of death from the Kluminator. Raul really tore into Elena in the back room. Foreshadowing! The preview for this episode showed Gunnar and Fabio looking very sad on the runway. More foreshadowing!

It's morning. Sonjia and Christopher both whine, "Oh my God-duh!" Geez, is that any way to embrace life? Oh, wait, they don't get enough sleep for even one R.E.M. cycle while on PR.

I am not dreaming of Raul.

Christopher is woken up by Ven pushing him, and we get a cheap shot of Ven's poorly covered ass. Somehow, I suspect that this is MORE foreshadowing.

Honest, it looked worse on my TV.

I bet we get a winner's/loser's edit before too long. Today's events are being spoon-fed to us.

Over on the runway, Heidi Klum fakes out the remaining 10 designers by bringing out friends of the new clients first. They are told to give each a complete makeover. Well, Heidi asks if they will help out, and Dmitry jokes, "Do we have to?"

More foreshadowing: Not every designer does.

What was Melissa doing here?

Are the clients leaving by the power of her hand?

Is Christopher praying for the designers next to him?

Will the ladies float away unless Christopher holds them down?

L'Oreal Paris's Johnny Lavoy joins Tim Gunn in the work room as Tim tells the designers that their new clients were assigned randomly.

Sure Tim, if you say so.

For the most part, the designers seem to take the challenge, and the new models/clients, seriously. Even Elena is charming and professional.☑ Foreshadowing Payoff #1

Elena has had an attitude & personality transplant. She's nice to real life people.

However, Ven is complaining from the get-go that his client is way too big to be making clothes for. He specifically states that she isn't model size, and that it will be unfairly difficult for him. Shall we cut her down to size for you, Ven?

☑ Foreshadowing Payoff #2

Ven can't seem to fit himself, and he can't seem to fit others over 100 lbs.

Um, earth to Ven: People come in all shapes and sizes. Money from non-models (for your clothing) works just as well as money from those who are waif-model-size. Oh, and your model was lovely, beautiful, and you were lucky to have her.

Oh, and there is this, too.

On the Tim-thru, nearly everyone is incredulous as Ven complains about his clients size IN FRONT OF HER. It's ridiculous how Ven is acting, and the other designers are showing it.

We get plenty of reaction shots from other designers ...

and a stern look from Mr. Gunn.

My God, Ven, you pissed off Tim, and you scared femme fatale Elena so much that she is uncharacteristically nice. You are powerful, but not in a good way. More like sulfur.

Setting Ven straight isn't enough at this point. Ven makes his client cry, which just about makes me wish I could kill through the TV with laser vision eyes. Well, without getting caught. Or, ruining my TV. Priorities.

Uh-oh, Fabio, you be careful! You are getting the winner/loser edit, another means of foreshadowing!

Can someone explain why Gunnar is using his stylus in this manner?

Isn't that how a little kid holds his crayon? Or is this a special HP technique?

On the runway we see ...

Ven Budhu

It seems too high waisted. The top is too plain.

This is not her skirt, either.

This is one of two looks where the client looked better BEFORE the makeover.

#9 of 10

Fabio Costa

Fabio's client was dressed in lumberjack chic (minus the chic) beforehand, so, a genuine transformation was inevitable. Still, he managed to keep the client's point of view, while upping her style ten-fold.

#1 of 10

Gunnar Deatherage

Gunnar wasn't afraid to embrace a non-model sized client,
and it showed. Good fit helps here.

#2 of 10

Melissa Fleis

The judges wished they could have seen the dress. Ah, perhaps 'black black black" Melissa knew what she was doing, hiding the dress? She was safe anyway, since she had immunity.

Safe

Alicia Hardesty

Not necessarily showing Alicia's point of view, but her client enjoyed the short, light pink dress, and it did flatter her.

Safe

Nathan Paul McDonald

Nathan Paul's design showed too much skin, including the side slits, but even worse, the construction was quite poor.

#10 of 10 and the auf

Christopher Palu

Thoughtful design, and real nice to see two pieces. Why is this only safe?

Safe

Dmitry Sholokhov

The fit seemed better on TV than in this still. I wondered if Dmitry was going to win,

but there was to be no foreshadowing for poor Dmitry.

#3 of 10

Elena Slivnyak

What, no monster shoulders? Elena cured the poor girl of any color, eh?

Safe

Sonjia Williams

It looked great on the dress form, but for the client the proportions are off. Way off.

#8 of 10

Melissa, Elena, Alicia and Christopher are called out as safe, leaving Ven, Fabio, Gunnar, Nathan, Dmitry and Sonjia on the runway.

☑ Foreshadowing Payoff #3

Fabio and Gunnar place in the top three, even though the previews had them appearing to be in the bottom three. It's the fake out that never manages to fool anyone.☑ Foreshadowing Payoff #4

Yea! Fabio got the winner's edit, not the loser's edit! Don't call your boyfriend Jason again, next time you might not be so lucky.

When the bottom three are left, Nathan Paul is auf'd. Heidi states there might be a second elimination. Thank you, judges, for giving Ven a fake-out and a shake-up, leaving him alone on the runway, not knowing if he will be in or out. Thank you times a million. I'm so glad Ven isn't being rewarded for being a jerk to his client.

Tune in next week when Tim predicts one of the designers will work themselves into a psychotic breakdown!

As long as we get a Swatch sighting, and Ven becomes a polite, professional adult, I'm good.

I'm not holding my breath. It seems from the preview that Ven isn't only sizist, he's sexist. Get your torches, folks.